David Akin, Parliamentary Bureau Chief

OTTAWA — The federal government will announce a long-awaited new passport Friday with enhanced security features that will also highlight the country’s history, QMI Agency has learned.

The federal government had already announced its intention to distribute a new passport next year with a computer chip built into it.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will show off a series of watermarks that depict scenes from Canada’s history. The images will fill the now-blank pages of passports

One page, for example, features a drawing of the memorial at Vimy Ridge, France, the scene of the nation-building First World War battle. Another shows Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer often called the father of New France.

The watermarked images will also act as an extra security precaution intended to deter counterfeiters.

Over 4.8 million passports were issued by the federal government last year.